Short Fuse
by xCaligula
Summary: When patrolling with Eddie, Sally encounters a criminal who has no qualms about hitting a lady and gets to catch a glimpse of Eddie's temper. Minutemen-era


**A/N: So, we all know Eddie was a hot-headed little punk in his Minutemen days, but we only get to see the bad side of that, when he attacks Sally. I wondered if there were ever a good side to that, and boom. My Problematic OTP strikes again.**

Sally rather liked patrolling with Eddie. Despite the slight age difference between the two, he could always make interesting conversation and could always get a few laughs out of her. Not to mention, there was his incredibly obvious crush on her that she found to be rather flattering.

She was used to men taking interest in her and knew she was attractive, so it wasn't a surprise when Eddie began taking every opportunity to hang around her and talk with her. It was almost cute, the way someone who tried to act so tough all the time would flirt with her, and she couldn't help but flirt back most of the time.

So, out of everyone to get paired with for patrol, he was definitely one of her favorites, for those reasons and because they made a good team. Between his brute strength and her finesse, they could take down any criminal who didn't follow the popularized method of surrendering to her beauty alone.

The media exaggerated that, but only slightly. While it was not necessarily true that men were lining up to get taken down by her, it was incredibly common for them to give up without much of a fight as soon as they saw that they were facing down the Silk Spectre. If Eddie were with her, he would still rough them up a little, even after such an easy victory. He was positively adorable when he was jealous.

~X~

It was a slow night, the next time they were paired up for patrol. If there was any action to be had around the city, it was being had by someone else with no leftovers for the pair. Sally couldn't say she minded an easy night, though she knew Eddie was probably itching for a fight.

"Sure is a nice night," he said, and she had to hold back a laugh at how obvious he was being. "Kinda slow for my tastes, but still pretty nice." He gave her his usual grin, one that she could not deny was attractive. Really, she couldn't deny that _he_ was attractive, and perhaps one of these days she would quit playing and give in to his advances. Maybe when he was a little older.

"It is," she agreed, fluttering her lashes at him. Sally always took great joy in the fact that she was the only person in the world who could make the Comedian blush. She contemplated laying a hand on his arm, or maybe just walking a little bit closer to him, and seeing what sort of reaction she would get, but before she could reach a decision, she heard a commotion up ahead.

The scene before them was like something out of a bad film. The robber was clearly new to this, with a mask that looked like it was made from torn up clothes, but he had been enough to intimidate the people in the diner he was now exiting, a bag of money in hand.

"Guess I spoke too soon," said Eddie with a laugh.

"Stop right there!" Sally declared, hands on her hips. The robber looked over to her, and she continued, "You're under arrest, sir!" She gave a wink, expecting this guy, new and lame as he seemed, to give himself up immediately.

He snorted. "And what are you going to do to me?"

Eddie hated hanging back at this part, but there was a procedure to be followed, and he did, while Sally strode up to the perpetrator. She had a set of handcuffs at her waist, and would subdue him- rather easily, she was sure; she still didn't think he would be able to resist her charms.

The man swung his fist, hard and fast, and she was too surprised to react as it made contact with her jaw, knocking her back. She had not been braced for impact, and hit the ground with a light thud.

"What, you think I'm not afraid to hit a girl or something?" he taunted. It was true that she had thought that; it had almost always been the case in the past. Even when men didn't fall for her charms, they always went easy on her. She had never been seriously hurt during a fight. Dazed, she looked up at the robber, who was leering at her.

And then Eddie was upon him.

"You son of a bitch!" he snarled, fists flying as he beat tore into the man in front of him. It had taken him one solid punch to the nose to knock the man off balance, and he had delivered a kick to the stomach to seal the deal and push him to the ground. Crouching over him, Eddie delivered blow after blow to the man's face, shouting threads and profanities.

Sally brought herself to her feet, observing the fight. Eddie very clearly had the upper hand, with the robber barely responsive at this point. She knew that this was overkill and that, if she didn't stop Eddie, there would be a murder.

"Eddie, that's enough," she said, staggering over to him. He didn't respond, throwing more punches, and she laid a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, his eyes still dark with rage, but she noticed them soften as he looked at her. "That's enough," she repeated, and he smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," he said, standing up. As if it were an after thought, he lightly kicked the nearly unconscious man in the side and said, "Don't ever let me catch ya layin' another hand on her, ya hear?"

Sally couldn't help but laugh, even though it hurt her very sore jaw. It had touched her how protective Eddie had been and how he had defended her with such ferocity. It was clear that he cared for her, and she could admire that. She had seen just how far he would go for her sake.

But she had also seen how short a fuse he had, and she hoped that she would never be on the receiving end of his incredible temper.

 **A/N: I don't know, I just wanted to write young Eddie. We don't get to see much of his personality then, but I did get the feeling that he was always trying to act tough, and shit like that. Man, idk, can't explain it.**


End file.
